Battery producer compliance scheme BatteryBack is using the Christmas holiday to engage householders on battery recycling – as efforts to improve the UK’s battery collection rate continue.
The collection of batteries is being promoted by BatteryBack. Research commissioned by the scheme suggests UK households will consume around 280 million batteries this Christmas – with up to a third of waste batteries thrown straight into the bin.
As a result, BatteryBack is now working with its members to raise public awareness of the takeback facilities available to householders at retailers and local authority sites. The nearest 20 battery recycling sites to any postcode within the UK can be found at www.batteryback.org.
David Reynolds, technical director of the WasteCare Group, which runs
BatteryBack, said: “Many households are recycling batteries despite limited communication. It is now time to ramp up our communication efforts to reach the 25% of households who are currently unaware of this option and help them understand that battery recycling is easy and convenient and has significant environmental benefits.”
BatteryBack, in collaboration with Duracell have recently participated in a series of radio interviews promoting the benefits of portable battery recycling. Fourteen interviews took place over two days last week. David Reynolds has led the campaign, setting out the challenge ahead. The plan is to build up the message leading up to Christmas then National Battery Day on 18th February 2017. Thereafter the aim is to review progress and reinforce the message until the UK is leading the way in portable battery recycling. BatteryBack plans to build the UK’s first portable battery recovery plant in 2017.
